Double Barrel Movie Review

There is a general feeling that we Malayali audiences are averse to changes. Whenever there are such attempts for change, we have turned a blind eye towards that. This same old saying is in the limelight once again coming from some quarters that Double Barrel is one such film that tried to bring in a new movie making style but getting a cold response from the audience.

About Lijo Jose Pelliseri’s movie, if this is what is meant by change and freshess, well I can’t agree to that. Then if you ask me what should be done for change and novelty, I don’t have an answer to that.

Spoof on gangster films. That was what was widely circulated in the media about the film. Well, that’s not the case here. The story, a confusing one with unlimited characters forming part of a precious stone deal is too much for a normal audience to digest.

With an ensemble line up of actors and huge production cost, Double Barrel was in the limelight once the project was announced. Sadly everything goes in vain as Lijo has come up with an indigestible film. Yes, the technical side have not been compromised and the making side is quite unconventional from the orthodox movie making style. But the film is a huge disappointment and a big letdown.

This wasn’t expected since Lijo had taken ample time after Amen to focus on DB. Not sure if there was a script for Double Barrel. If at all there was one, it is given a shoddy treatment. Visually, director has given the best possible look for the film but that is not enough to make the film a passable one.

Pritvi and Indrajith were literally struggling at many places to get their comic timing right and among the two it was Indrajith the better. Arya could not make any impression and for the major part he was irritating with his comic expressions. Chemban Vinod was okay while Asif Ali and Sunny Wayne had nothing to do here. All other actors had that excess expression for them which may have been deliberately done as part of the treatment chosen by the director.

Excellent cinematography by Abinandan Ramanujam and matching background score by Prashant Pillai. Songs and their placement were not proper while edits were fine. Sound design was another highlight on the technical side.

Overall, Double Barrel disappointed me a lot and I couldn’t enjoy anything and gave only a huge amount of boredom. A big thumbs down to Lijo Jose Pelliseri this time and going with one and a half out of five.